Talk on Communicating during Serious Illness on June 17th

B. Joseph Semmes MD will present a talk called Serious Illness Communication: How to Help Your Doctors Help You and Your Family, at the Cook Memorial Library on Wednesday, June 17th at 7:00 PM.

Dr. Semmes will go beyond the insights of Atul Gawande MD in the New York Times bestseller Being Mortal and will discuss how communication is the crucial intervention in serious illness, particularly for the elderly or those with chronic life limiting conditions. He will review the best evidence on patient, physician and system factors and therapies that are potentially underused and overused. Many emerging initiatives like the The Conversation Project, Respecting Choices and The Serious Illness Conversation Guide are helping patients and families navigate landscapes that are difficult in a busy medical world of many specialists. Semmes believes the system needs to become more “patient and family-centered”. After the talk you will be better prepared to help yourself or your family member obtain a higher level quality of care.